What to do if you didn't get the pay raise you wanted

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Picture this: it’s the day of your annual review, and lately you’ve been feeling on top of your game. You enter the meeting room confident, expecting positive feedback and gunning for a raise. But when you finally ask if you’ll be receiving one after detailing the hard work you’ve put in and great results you’ve produced, your manager expresses his regrets.

The true mark of a mature person is being graceful in the face of disappointment. Here are some of the next steps you could take if you didn’t get the pay rise you wanted.

Ask for feedbackThe first thing to do is find out the reason why you didn’t get the raise. If there isn’t time to discuss it during your review, schedule a meeting with your manager and ask the big question. In an open and transparent firm, your manager or an HR staff member would be more than happy to give you constructive feedback that should provide some clarity.

Find out the reasonThere might be external factors involved – maybe it isn’t a good time for the business or perhaps things are so great that your department is looking to hire extra hands and is directing budget there.

If there are no outside factors at play, then perhaps you need to re-evaluate your performance. It’s possible that your expectations are not aligned with theirs, or that maybe you’re working hard but towards the wrong goals. Whatever it is, you need to know in order to map out your next steps.

Plan for the futureOnce you have figured out why you didn’t get that raise, take a step back to reflect. How can you work on yourself to make sure that you hit the jackpot next time? Do you need to approach more clients? Or drive more sales? Set ambitious but sustainable goals, and then work hard at knocking each one of them out of the park.

Schedule check-ins

As you keep working towards hitting your goals, don’t forget to pause every now and then for check-ins with your manager, just to make sure you’re aligned in terms of their expectations and your progress. Be sure to highlight all the hard work you’re putting in and the results it’s driving – it will hopefully pay off in your next review!